The invention relates to aerodynamic toys for throwing through the air and more particularly to saucer-shaped flying toys.
Toy flying saucers have become very popular over the past years and have enjoyed great popularity as recreational articles for use in games and contests. Toy flying saucers are generally made in the form of a disk of plastic material with a rim portion at its periphery and with a central dome or flat portion, molded integrally with the rim. The toy flying saucer is manually grasped at the rim and is thrown in the air with a spinning motion.
In conventional toy flying saucers, as presently found on the market, the rim of the body extends downwardly a certain distance below the central portion of the body which is generally upwardly convex, in the form of a dome sometimes provided with a substantially flat center portion. Such a configuration is based on the aerodynamic principle that air trapped and compressed below the dome of the saucer body imparts an improved lift providing sustained flight in the air.
The present invention, by contrast, is directed to a toy flying saucer configuration wherein the central portion of the body, instead of being crowned upwardly, is crowned downwardly. Such a configuration presents the advantages that the flying saucer body may be made of thinner material, as a result of a shape provided with reverse curve convolutions greatly increasing the rigidity of the body and, more importantly yet, the configuration of the invention provides greatly improved aerodynamic characteristics. The annular peripheral portion of the saucer body of the invention has a concavity directed downwardly, thus tending to compress and entrap a volume of air within the annular cavity at the periphery of the saucer body. Some of the entrapped air is caused to spill over the rim, as in conventional toy flying saucers, but the majority of the entrapped air is caused to circulate, before spilling over the rim, towards the central body portion forming a surface disposed at the inner rim of the annular peripheral portion. Lift is thus applied both to the annular portion and to the central body portion. In addition, the concavity of the upper surface of the central body portion, while the toy flying saucer of the invention is projected through the air, creates a suction applied to the top of the central portion which increases further the lift exerted on the flying saucer during flight.
A further advantage resulting from the shape of the flying saucer according to the present invention is due to the peripheral annular portion of the body being provided with a pair of concentric walls across which radial members may be mounted, giving a plurality of choice as to the function of such radial members. For example, such radial members may be used for attaching streamers providing a decorative effect during flight of the flying saucer, or they may be shaped to act as air-operated noise makers, or as spoilers, or as additional lifting surfaces.